Consider a Spherical Cow


Consider a Spherical Cow: A Course in Environmental Problem Solving
by John Harte

Main Points:

  • What is the "spherical cow" joke? The phrase comes from a joke about theoreticians I first heard as a graduate student. Milk production at a dairy farm was low so the farmer wrote to the local university, asking help from academia. A multidisciplinary team of professors was assembled, headed by a theoretical physicist, and two weeks of intensive on-site investigation took place. The scholars then returned to the university, notebooks crammed with data, where the task of writing the report was left to the team leader. Shortly thereafter the farmer received the write-up and opened it to read on the first line: "Consider a spherical cow..."
  • The Approach: The spherical cow approach to problem solving involves the stripping away of unnecessary detail, so that only the essentials remain. Of course, approaching the complex world from the spherical cow perspective can sometimes annoy others. To an expert who has labored long in the field, the cow that to you is spherical may be sacred. The trick is to know which details can be stripped away without changing the essentials. The book should help readers develop a knack for doing this. 
  • Chapter 1: Warm-Up Exercises (conversion of units and approximation methods)
  • Chapter 2: Back of the Envelope Methods 
  • Chapter 3: Beyond Back of the Envelope (system boundaries, variables, invent models, tools)
    • First Level: Hand waving approach
    • Second Level: Analytical/Quantitative Solution
    • This Level: Deduce Approximate solutions by simplifying assumptions

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